Combination shipping and display carton



P. J. MILLER 3,425,537

COMBINATION SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CARTON.

Filed Nov. 15, 1967 Sheet Feb. 4, 1969 FIGS INVE-NIOR PHILLIP J. MILLEFI ATTORNEYS Feb. 4, 1969 P. J. MILLER COMBINATION SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CARTON Filed NOV. 15, 1967 of 2 I FIG .6 BY

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination shipping and display carton comprising an outer carton having a bottom, side walls, end walls and a top, a tear tape around the side walls and the end walls near the bottom of the said walls, a lower support mem her on the bottom of the carton and having vertically extending panels extending upwardly into the carton, at least one upper tray within said carton and supported on said lower support member, whereby when said tear tape is remove-d, the upper portions of said side and end walls and the top of the outer carton can be removed as a unit, to change the carton into a display carton andan upper support member can be placed on said upper tray, and like cartons can be supported on the display carton;

This invention relates to a carton which can be converted to a display for objects or packages which have insufficient strength to support a stack of like objects or packages.

In the marketing of fragile or low strength objects, such as packages of food products such as cookies, or light bulbs, fruit and the like it is desirable to have a carton of corrugated cardboard or the like which can be converted to a display of the objects contained therein. There is no problem where the objects such as cans, are stnong enough to support a stack of like objects, it only being necessary to provide for the removal of part of the carton. When the converted cartons are stacked, the strength of the objects in the lower part of the stack will support the weight of the cartons and objects in the upper part of the stack. However, where the articles are fragile, if the cartons were stacked, the weight of the cartons and articles in the upper part of the stack will crush or break the articles in the lower part of the stack.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carton which will overcome the drawbacks of the prior art combination cartons and display devices.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a combination shipping and display carton which will enable the shipping and display of fragile articles and products without danger of crushing the articles or products.

To achieve the objects of the preesnt invention, the present invention provides a carton which has around the lower portion of the side and end walls thereof a tear tape which when it is torn off separates the upper portions of the side and end walls from the lower portions thereof, leaving the lower portions of the side and end walls attaced to the bottom of the carton to form a tray. Within the carton is provided a further tray, and between the further tray and the bottom of the carton is provided a U-shaped support member which supports the further tray above the bottom of the carton, and between the further tray and the top of the carton is a further U-shaped support memher. When the carton is packed with fragile articles, for

3,425,537 Patented Feb. 4, 1969 example bags of cookies, a layer of bags is placed on the bottom of the carton, a U-shaped support member is positioned among the layer of bags, and the further tray is placed on the support member over the layer of bags, the further tray resting on the support [member rather than on the layer of bags. The further tray is then packed with a second layer of bags, and the further support member is positioned amongthe second layer of bags. After the closed carton has been shipped, and it is desired to make a display, the tear tape is removed, and the upper portions of the side and end walls and the top of the carton are lifted off the remaining tray as a single unit, thus exposing the lower layer of bags, the further tray, and the second layer of bags. Additional cartons can be prepared in a like manner and stacked up, the support members and trays carrying the weight of the bags and their contents.

The invention Will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of the combination shipping and display carton according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of a further tray forming part of the carton of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the tray of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a developed view of the tray of FIGURES 2 and 3;

FIGURE 5 is a developed view of a support member; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a plurality of cartons according to the invention stacked in a display.

The carton according to the invention comprises an outer carton having the usual bottom 10, side walls 11, end walls 12 and top 13. This outer carton is conventional in every respect except for the presence of a tear tape 14, of a conventional type, around the side walls 11 and end walls 12 at a level slightly above the bottom 10, which tear tape, when it is removed, separates the lower portions of the side walls 11 and end walls 12 from the upper portions. When the tear tape 14 has been thus removed, there remains a lower tray 15 formed of the lower portions of the side walls 11 and the lowerportions of the end walls 12 and the bottom 10. The upper portions of the side walls 11 and end walls 12 together with the top 13 form for a unit which can be lifted off the lower tray 15 as such, i.e., without it being necessary to open the top in any way.

Resting on the bottom 10 within the carton is a lower support member 16 having a plurality of vertically eX- tending panels. While this support member has been shown as a U-shaped member, which is a convenient and economic form of such a member, it is of course possible to provide any other convenient shape which will, accommodate within middle portion of the support member the articles to be contained in the carton. As can be seen from FIGURE 4, the support member has two tabs 17 projecting from one of the horizontal edges thereof. The lower supporting member 16 is positioned with the opposite edge, i.e., the edge having no projections, against the bottom 10 with the projections pointing upwardly. It will be clear that the articles to be packed and shipped and then displayed will be packed between the panels making up the U-shaped support member 16. In the embodiment shown, as seen in FIGURE 6, there is one bag width between the spaced parallel panels of the U-shaped support member and one bag width between the outside of the panels and the end of the tray.

Supported on the edge of the U-shaped support member 16 which has the projections 17 extending therefrom is a further or upper tray 18 which in the embodiment shown has the same outside dimensions as the inside dimensions of the carton. The bottom 19 of the tray 18 has a pair of slots 20 therein through which the projections 17 of the lower support member 16 project to hold the lower support member 16 in position within the carton. Resting on the bottom 19 of the upper tray 18 is an upper support member 21 which preferably has the same configuration as does the lower support member 16. The projections on the edge of the upper support member 21 extend downwardly through the slots 20 in the bottom 19 of the upper tray 18 in order to hold the upper support member 21 in position. The upper edge of the upper support member 21 extends to the top 13 of the carton. Articles to be packed and shipped and then displayed will be packed between the panels making up the upper U-shaped support member 21 in the same manner as in the bottom of the carton. All the parts, i.e., the outer carton, the support members and the support tray are of corrugated cardboard or the like.

It will be appreciated that during the packing of the carton, the top panel 13 is open in the same manner as in a conventional carton, and when packing is finished, the top of the carton is closed and sealed in the conventional manner.

The construction of the upper tray 18 can be any appropriate construction which will have suflicient strength to support the articles packed therein. However, it is preferred to form the upper tray as shown in FIGURES 2-4. As seen in FIGURE 4, the blank from which the upper tray 18 is formed has a bottom panel 24 which has the two slots 20 therein, and two side wall panels 25 which are hinged to the side edges of the bottom panel along crease lines 26. Extending from each end of each side panel 25 is an end flap 27 which is substantially the same length as the width of the bottom panel 24. End wall panels 28 are hinged to the end edges of the bottom panel along crease lines 29, and each is divided by crease lines into three portions, an inner portion 30, a top portion 31, and an outer portion 32. Projecting from the outer edge of the outer portion 32 are tabs 33. Tab receiving apertures 34 are formed in the bottom panel 24 adjacent the crease line 29.

To form the upper tray from the blank 28 the side wall panels are folded up along the crease lines 26 and the end flaps 27 are folded inwardly so that they lie along the end edges of the bottom panel 26. The end wall panels 28 are then folded up along the crease lines 29 so that the inner portions 30 lie against the inwardly folded end flaps 27. The top portions 31 are then folded down against the top edges of the end flaps 27, and the outer portions 32 are folded down so that they lie against the inner surfaces of the end flaps 27, and the tabs 33 are inserted through the tab receiving apertures 34, thus securing the end wall flaps in position and securing the side wall flaps in position by virtue of the holding of the end flaps 27 within the folded end wall flaps.

As pointed out above, in order to open the carton, after it has reached its destination, it is only necessary to remove the tear tape 14, after which the upper portions of the side walls and end walls and the top of the carton can be lifted oil? the lower tray 15 as a unit, leaving the lower tray with the articles packed therein and the upper tray 18 with articles therein and supported on the U-shaped support member 16 in the lower tray. The upper tray 18 will also have the U-shaped support member 21 therein, but with only a single carton, this will serve no further purpose than to maintain some of the articles separate from each other. As shown in FIGURE 6, a plurality of such opened cartons can be stacked one on the other, in which case the upper support member 21 will carry the load of the opened carton stacked thereon, while the lower support member 16 will carry the weight of the upper tray and its contents and the weight of cartons stacked above the upper tray. Thus, the load carrying members are the support members 16 and 21, which by virtue of their vertical alignment form a column-like member extending down through the stack of opened cartons.

It is desirable that the upper support member 21 be inserted into the carton before closing it, in order to provide support for the cover 13 during shipping and storage, and to support the weight of the articles in the bottom should the carton accidentally be turned upside down. However, it is not essential that the upper support member 21 be in place, since the side and end walls of the carton will normally provide sufficient support to carry the weight of cartons stacked above a given carton during shipping and storage. However, a folded or unfolded upper support 21 should be inserted into the box, simply by laying it on top of the articles in the upper tray, before closing the carton.

It will be seen that there has been provided a combination shipping and display carton which provides means for packing and supporting layers of articles which are easily crushed in a carton, and which can be opened in such a way that the opened cartons can be stacked in an attractive display of the articles.

While the present invention has been disclosed as having only one upper tray, it will be appreciated that there can be any number of such trays, each having a support member thereon supporting the weight of the tray and its contents next above. Likewise, other forms of an upper tray and a support member can be used, it being only necessary that they have the strength to carry the weight of the articles to be packed therein and to support such articles and like cartons stacked up on them when the cartons are opened into display cartons.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination shipping and display carton comprising an outer carton having a bottom, side walls, end walls, and a top, a tear tape around the side walls and the end walls near the bottom of the said walls, a lower support member on the bottom of the carton and having vertically extending panels extending upwardly into the carton, at least one upper tray within said carton and supported on said lower support member, whereby when said tear tape is removed, the upper portions of said side and end walls and the top of the outer carton can be removed as a unit to change the carton into a display carton and an upper support member can be placed on said upper tray, and like cartons can be supported on the display carton.

2. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 1 in which the lower support member is a U-shaped member.

3. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 1 in which said lower support member has projections on the upper edge thereof, and said upper tray has apertures in the bottom thereof through which said projections extend to fix said lower support member in position in said carton.

4. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an upper support member on said upper tray and having vertically extending panels extending upwardly in the carton.

5. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 4 in which the said upper support member has projections on the lower edge thereof, and said upper tray has apertures in the bottom thereof through which said projections extend to fix said upper support member in position in said carton.

6. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 4 in which the upper support member is a U-shaped member.

7. A combination shipping and display carton as claimed in claim 1 in which said at least one upper tray has a bottom panel, side wall panels extending upwardly from the side edges of said bottom panel, end tabs eX- tending across the end edges of said bottom panel from the ends of said side wall panels, end wall panels each having an inner portion extending upwardly from the end edge of the bottom panel, a top portion extending over the top edges of said end tabs, and an outer portion extabs, the free ends of said end wall panels having tabs thereon extending through the bottom panel for holding the end wall panels in the folded position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,911,124 11/1959 Seidman 20644 3,043,490 7/1962 Burnett 20644 tending downwardly over the inner faces of said end 10 JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner. 

